Esto Gallery: Brutalism

ARCHITECT takes a fresh look at Brutalism through images shot by some of Esto’s finest photographers.

Given recent controversy over Brutalist buildings being put in the path of the wrecking ball, it seems appropriate to re-examine some of these structures that, while often lauded in their heyday, are currently demonized by the public. ARCHITECT Editor-in-Chief Ned Cramer, Assoc. AIA, noted in a recent editorial that “it’s a bad time to be a Brutalist building.” But as supporters of Paul Rudolph’s Orange County Government Center learned when they won a vote to not tear down the building (albeit by a narrow margin), the tide may be turning.

Brutalism as a concept evolved, according to architectural critic and theorist Reyner Banham, from "reference[s] to béton brut (raw concrete), which had been one of the most controversial features of Le Corbusier's recently finished Unité block in Marseilles ... and, not least, the art brut of Dubuffet." [quoted from Reyner Banham's Historian of the Immediate Future, page 125]

Admirers of the genre celebrate Brutalist buildings for their precast concrete walls with rough, unfinished surfaces; detractors tend to see only their massive forms, which can seem leaden, heavy, and overbearing. Take a look at these pictures, and decide for yourself whether you’re in favor of preservation or demolition.

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About the Author

Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson has been a contributing editor with ARCHITECT since 2008. Her articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Metropolis, Fast Company's Co.Design, and The Atlantic's CityLab, among many other publications.